The Constantine Brewing Co. will be located at 145 S. Washington St. in downtown Constantine. Owners Charlene and Matt Ryan hope to open the microbrewery and small winery in October.Courtesy of Matt Ryan

Charlene and Matt Ryan, of Constantine, plan to open the Constantine Brewing Co. as early as October.Courtesy of Matt Ryan

With a record like that, it's no surprise the former recording studio owner and builder will be turning his hobby into a business when he, along with his wife, Charlene, a vintner, open the Constantine Brewing Co.

Ryan, 54, and his wife live on almost seven acres along the St. Joseph River in Constantine where they grow hops and have a small vineyard. Ryan said they plan to use as much of their backyard product as they can at the brewery to be located in a 160-year-old building at 145 S. Washington St. in downtown Constantine. It will serve craft beer, wine and feature a restaurant specializing in barbecue.

"We'll use whatever we can from the yard and source
everything we can locally," Ryan said.

Ryan said they hope to open in the fall.

“There’s a lot of stuff in play as far as permitting and construction hassles, but our tentative date is around October of this year," Ryan said.

Ryan said he's doing a lot of the construction work himself. He believes the building was constructed in the 1850s. He's working on converting 700-square-feet into the brewhouse and another 2,000-square-feet for the taproom and restaurant. He wants to make around 100 gallons at a time on a three-barrel system.

The Ryans own the property, formerly Jay & Kay Floral Shop, and Matt Ryan said he's learned quite a bit about it while doing renovations. In addition to a floral shop, he said it was a furniture store. He believes the floor joists are original. They're hand-cut black walnut logs with the bark still on them.

"It looks like they went out back, cut down some trees and laid them down across the hole in the ground and that's the floor joists," Ryan said. "You can see the ax marks. It's an oldie."

Ryan said he'll keep the joists in place after an inspector said they were solid. Ryan said he hopes to utilize as many original aspects of the building as he can as it has some charm, history.

"The building has settled some over the years. There's not a straight line in the place. It's quite something," he said.

Ryan said he expects to spend between $60,000 to $70,000 on the project, which is funded by the couple. Ryan said Constantine secured a state grant of around $400,000 to upgrade a nearby parking lot. The Ryans were also given grant money from the village to repair the facade.

"The village is 110 percent behind this thing. They're
thrilled to death we're putting something in like this. They're giving us a lot
of support," he said.

Charlene Ryan will also make "country wines," including some fruit wines.

"She makes really nice chardonnays and cabernets," he said.

The Ryans moved from Chicago about six years ago. Ryan said he owned a recording studio in Chicago, but the changing industry and advancing technology caused him to change careers. He started doing home repairs and remodeling more than a decade ago. The couple owned a cottage in Constantine they'd frequently visited, but loved it so much they didn't want to go back to Chicago. The decided to move to the area permanently. Ryan said he started homebrewing about two years ago.

"She (Charlene) got me a beer kit one day and said, 'Here, do this.' And it just took off from there," Ryan said.

Ryan said he's not a big hop head. He said some of his best recipes are for an imperial black ale he calls Black Galactic, as well as an American pale ale and a raspberry wheat ale.

Ryan said he'll most likely have three house beers on tap -- an amber, stout and pale ale -- while rotating in two experimental or seasonal brews at a time. He plans to be a neighborhood brewery.

"I'm not looking at distribution at this point. I'm just looking to keep it in town," he said.